And the 1886. Turin has no longer been the capital of the Kingdom for more than twenty years and the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II is still under construction. It is the year in which De Amicis publishes the book Heart, in which Via Pietro Micca, the first diagonal street in the city, was opened and the Carnival settled in Piazza San Carlo for the first time. And precisely in that year, a stone’s throw from the living room square, in via Maria Vittoria 2, that i Steffanone brothers they decide to open a place offering “French-style” cuisine. The idea was born after a trip to Paris.
Thus began the story of an address of excellence that for 130 years it was a point of reference for the nobility and the rich bourgeoisie of Turin, who ordered traditional Savoy specialties here, but also for all ordinary mortals who were passionate about cooking. In the 1950s, Steffanone gave birth to catering and organized the first receptions for the Turin community of the center and the hills. And it was in 1958 that he arrived at the workshopat the time managed by a son of the founders, Luigi Steffanone with his wife Olga, a 15 year old boy, Luigi Valentewho started as a counter clerk and took over the shop in 1980.
Luigi with his wife Lidia, and then his son Marco, chef and sommelier, carries on the traditional project of the Steffanone company.
Then, at the end of 2017, due to the disproportionate increase in rental coststhe Valentes decide to close the historic restaurant: a mourning for the whole city.
However, the project continues with Vastè (name which is not by chance a portmanteau between Valente and Steffanone), today in two rooms, in via Lessolo a stone’s throw from Lungopo Antonelli and in via Bertholleta sort of «Steffanone gastronomy of the 21st century», because the Steffanone model remains as a point of reference.
And so on May 24th and 25th Vastè in San Salvario he decided to create an event: two revival dinners in the spirit of Steffanone. A return to the past, which brings back to the table the historic cuisine of the Steffanone companythe one you found at the counter and ordered for a family party.
We start with the appetizers, a Piedmontese classic. Russian salad (it is said that the Steffanone brothers brought the recipe from France and that the first Russian salad in Turin came out of the shop in Via Maria Vittoria at the beginning of the 20th century), the veal with tuna sauce, inevitable. Then something more delicious in the tradition: the jelly ham mousse medallionanother must, the best seller in the 70s/80s, and carpione trout and courgettes, subalpine glory. Less usual the white meat terrine with pistachioprepared for holiday lunches since 1980, and the rustic puff pastry cakebest seller for years among Steffanone customers for the Easter Monday picnic.
The dishes are an anthology of typical dishes: square agnolotti, Florentine gnocchi (i.e. Roman gnocchi with toma spinach and ham), which were always ready to take home, but there is a less usual dish: the Du Barry velvety with trout eggs. Du Barry velvety or «Crema Madame Du Barry» is a French soup based on cauliflower, a refined dish that dates back to the first half of the eighteenth century and shows the link with the cuisine beyond the Alps. It takes its name from Countess Jeanne Du Barry, the last lover of the French king Louis XV, and was created by the court chef, Louis Signot, especially for her. Olga Steffanone proposed it for important dinners in the 1950s, in a special version with trout eggsand it is the one that is proposed again by Vastè.
Then the meatballs in white wineanother must of the 50s and a giambonetto (French re-recipe, the name seems to derive from jambon): a chicken thigh ham usually with Marsala, a comfort food recipe launched by Steffanone in the 1980s.
Finale of desserts with the classic lOlga-style apple pie: Mrs. Olga Steffanone invented it, she tells herself after a sleepless night looking for a new dessert. Simplicity won: apples from her garden, inside a tall and rich cake. Also proposed today – a little lower, explains Marco Valente – it is always the most popular, together with the classic bunet.
The tradition continues.
